Patna:
At Katihar in West Bihar, Rahul Gandhi arrives at 11 am by helicopter in a swirl of dust and cheers. There are nearly 5,000 people waiting to see him.
Bihar starts voting on the 21 October for its next government. This is Gandhi's first public rally for the campaign.
Rajiv Ranjan is among those who've waited nearly three hours in 35- degree heat to see the leader.''I have come here because he is an iconic leader. But I can't say yet who I'll give my vote to.''
So it may be a full house, but this is also a tough room - as Gandhi has learnt the hard way. For the Lok Sabha elections in May, Gandhi was a big draw, but the voters opted for Nitish Kumar and his alliance with the BJP.
Gandhi is choosing his lines carefully as he tries to improve upon the 10 seats that the Congress currently has of 243 in the Bihar Assembly. He's focusing so far on targeting Kumar's secular credentials and his image as the man who is finally bringing development to a region often referred to as India's Heart of Darkness.
''Nitish Kumar is in alliance with the BJP, but he won't let BJP leaders campaign in Bihar. The problem is not the alliance with the BJP, the problem is the alliance with the BJP's ideology. That, we in the Congress, intend to finish off," he declares at the Katihar rally.
Kumar has refused to let the BJP's Narendra Modi campaign in Bihar -an attempt to keep Muslim voters by his side as a secular leader.
And while that may allow Gandhi to poke holes at the conflict within the Nitish-BJP alliance, his own party could do with some conflict-resolution.
Dissidence within the Congress recently has been public and shrill. A few months ago, the party sacked its State President, Anil Sharma, and the central party's representative for the state, Jagdish Tytler. Five days ago, unhappy Congressmen were on strike outside the party headquarters in Patna over the official list of candidates.
Just five days ago, some congress workers were on strike outside the party headquarters in Patna over ticket distribution. Over the last five months, two top partly leaders in Bihar were sacked from party positions, after groups led by them clashed consistently at various locations across the state.
Even as voters saw a party in complete disarray, Gandhi suggests they look elsewhere - for signs of the development that Nitish is regularly credited with. There are none, he states.
"The Centre has doubled its contribution to Bihar, yet there are no roads, no schools, no jobs, no schemes. Biharis still have to go to other states for jobs, where they are beaten up and driven away. Give the Congress a chance to undo this damage."
It's a point he will try to drive home in another five public rallies that he's scheduled to address across the state in the next few weeks.